Our people

Strength through management

Chairman
D Ross ACA*†
David joined the Board on 12 April 2005 and was appointed Chairman in October 2009. A Chartered Accountant, he was Chief Operating Officer of Carphone Warehouse between 1990 and July 2003 with responsibility for its activities in mainland Europe.
In 2006 he was appointed a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery and is the main sponsor for Havelock Academy in Grimsby.

Chief Executive
Mark Lejman
Mark Lejman joined the Board as Chief Executive on 1 June 2008 and has a wealth of experience gained from an international industrial career spanning more than 30 years and in markets as diverse as Russia, China and Canada. He was formerly at The Morgan Crucible Co PLC as a Director and CEO of its Carbon Division where, between 2004 and earlier this year, he was instrumental in refocusing the group and building its presence in new growth market sectors.

From 1978 to 1998 he was at Courtaulds PLC where he held a number of senior management positions, latterly as CEO of its Tencel premium fibres division. In 1998, he was part of the team that led the management buy-out of Tencel from Akzo Nobel, which had acquired Courtaulds that year. At Acordis Group, as Tencel became known, he was CEO of the group's Cellulosic Fibres division and played a key role in both the successful growth and eventual sale of the group in 2004. Mark is also a non-executive Director at Delta PLC and Berkshire East NHS Trust.

Company Secretary
N R Carrick FCA
Neil joined Cosalt Plc in 1995 as Company Secretary/Finance Director Designate and was appointed to the Board as Finance Director in 1996 until August 2008. Prior to this between 1989 and 1995 he was Group Financial Controller and Company Secretary of William Cook Plc. Qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in 1985.

Finance Director
M T Reynolds
Mike joined Cosalt plc on 11 August 2008 as Finance Director. Mike was formerly at CAPE Group from 1991 to 2008, latterly as Group Finance Director, where he played a key role in their acquisition programme.

Simon Gilbert*†
Simon is a Managing Partner at Hanover Investors, an activist investor.  Simon has worked in a number of operational and investing roles, including as a principal leading private equity investments in early-stage businesses and Shell International, where he led major international M&A activity in Downstreams business, as well as running significant operational turnaround programmes. 

Simon is also a non-executive director of Fairpoint Group (AIM quoted financial services).  Simon holds an MBA and a BA (Hons) degree in Economics & Spanish from Bristol University. 

Yarom Ophir*†
Yarom joined the Board on 3 June 2008. He resides in Geneva where he is the Managing Director of Katana SA, a document management company, he is also a Director of Societe lmmobiliere IMS SA and Soverino Real Estate Management SA, both commercial real estate businesses, and on the board of International Maritime Services SA.

Yarom served, until recently, on the board of Bank of New York-Inter Maritime Bank, Geneva, a fully authorised Swiss bank. Yarom's experience also extends to diversified investment management through his directorship of Sovereign Holding Limited, the Bermuda-based principal holding vehicle of the Rappaport Family Trust. In addition, Yarom is a member of the Trust's Investment Committee.

Yarom was schooled in Geneva and graduated with a BSc in Business Administration from Boston University's School of Management in 1997. He then worked as a trainee auditor at PwC in New York. 

Maurice White*†
Maurice qualified as a mechanical engineer from Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology in 1975 to begin a career in the oil and gas industry.  Following a successful career in operations and engineering he was appointed Managing Director of KCA Deutag Drilling Ltd in 1996.

In 2001 Maurice was appointed to the Board of the holding company Abbot Group plc, retiring from this executive role in 2009. During this period (1996 to 2009), Abbot Group plc grew from a small UK based drilling contractor to an international company with over one hundred drilling rigs deployed in twenty different countries. Maurice also served on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Drilling Contractors from 2002 until early 2005.

* Member of Audit Committee
† Member of Remuneration Committee